A device may comprise an operating system (OS) to facilitate the operation of equipment in the device. For example, an OS may comprise various drivers for the equipment, file handling and processing utilities, user interface software that may facilitate user interaction with a device, etc. Devices have traditionally only comprised one OS as this is all that is needed for the device to function. However, the introduction of a variety of different types of operating systems from a variety of sources has generated interest in multi-operating system devices. For example, a user of a mobile computing device may desire to employ a more robust OS when the device is being used in a stationary manner (e.g., with external power and a wired network), and may switch to an OS that is more streamlined, power efficient, etc. when the device is mobile. In this manner, the user may leverage all of the abilities of the device in completely different operational scenarios.
While employing more than one OS in a device may be beneficial on its face, the actual implementation of such a system is currently problematic. Existing solutions do not allow for transitioning from one OS to another in an expedient manner. These solutions may require, for example, a device to be rebooted to change from one OS to another, to completely suspend the activity of one OS when moving to another, etc. As a result, the user is presented with delays and/or undesirable limitations that make the use of more than one OS burdensome. It may also be possible for an instance of one operating system to run virtually within another OS, thereby allowing more than one OS to be concurrently active in a device. While such a solution may provide the flexibility to quickly move between different operating systems, the processing and power resources needed to implement this solution so that all operating systems perform in an acceptable manner does not make it appropriate for certain implementations wherein processing power and/or battery life are a concern (e.g., mobile communication and/or computing devices).
Although the following Detailed Description will proceed with reference being made to illustrative embodiments, many alternatives, modifications and variations thereof will be apparent to those skilled in the art.